Americans Love Pepperoni, Hate Anchovies, Finds Unsurprising Poll

A recent Harris Poll got to the bottom of Americans’ pizza preferences, finally. The poll surveyed 193 adults on their favorite and least-favorite pizza toppings as well as crusts of choice and picks for beverage pairings. Here are the poll’s findings:

People love pepperoni. The top spot in toppings rankings went to pepperoni, with sausage coming in second. Mushrooms took third while classic plain cheese came in fourth. Appropriately, ham and pineapple, which typically accompany each other on Hawaiian pizza, tied for eighth.

Thin crust reigns supreme. Sorry, Chicagoans, but New York’s signature thin crust is the most popular type of crust, with 29 percent of the votes. French bread and Sicilian crust came in at the bottom, with “regular” crust, deep dish and stuffed crust falling in the middle of the pack.

No one wants anchovies. The pungent, salty fish were number one in the list of people’s least favorite toppings. Strangely, mushrooms also appear on this list, mirroring their #2 spot on the favorites list.

Pizza and beer belong together. More than half of those polled said that their preferred pairing for pizza was a frothy, cold beer. Within that group, 29 percent said they specifically want a non-craft domestic beer, followed closely by craft beer hounds and those who like their brew imported.

Some people don’t eat pizza. Probably the poll’s most surprising discovery is that there are people in this country who don’t eat pizza. Two percent of those surveyed said they didn’t touch the crispy, cheesy, saucy, indescribably delicious stuff.